Improvement in converting motion



l y UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM H. MCNARY, OF BROOKLYN, YORK.v

IMPROVEMENT IN CONVERTIN'G MOTION.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 35,883, dated July 15, 1862.

To all whom it'may concern:

Be it known that I, WILL-IAM H. McNARY, of the city of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of N ew York, have invented a new and Improved Mechanism for Converting Motion 5 and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, andexact description ofthe same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this speciiica tion, in which* Figure 1 is a front view of my improved `mechanism havingthe front gear removed to show the construction of the 'parts behind it. Fig. 2 is a back view of the front gear. Fig. 3 is a vertical section' of the mechanism at right angles to Fig. l. Fig. 4 is a perspective view of part of the reversing device.

Similar 'letters of reference-indicate corre spending parts inthe several figures.:

This invention consists in certain means applied in combination with a drivingshaft rotating continuously in one direction, whereby the said shaft may be made to impart rotary motion to machinery either in one direction or the other, and to reverse the direction automatically at such intervals of time, however irregular, as may be desired.

To enable others to make and use my invention, l will proceed to describe its construction-and operation. v

A is the drivingshaft, fitted to bearings a c, and supposed to'have a rotary motion in the direction ofthe arrow shown upon it in Fig. 3. This shaft has fast to it what I call ay switchwheel, l D, which gears with' and drives a toothed gear, B, which is arranged to turn freely upon a fixed stud, b, secured in aposi'- tion transverse to the shaft A in a stationary box, Cf, the movable front plate, c, of which is omitted in Fig. 1, and the upper part of which is represented in that figure as being broken away to expose the switch-wheel fully to view. The box has an opening in the baci: to adinitl a portion of the switclrwheel.

The switch-wheel D has formed upon its cir cumference two threads, f f, of a width and depth to iit the spaces between the teeth ofthe gear B, such threads running about or alittle :more than three-fourths of the way round the ci rcurnference i n planes parallel with its planes of revolution, and the remaining fourth ofthe circumference being cut away to receive a tion at once.

Vmovable piece or switch, D', on which isv formed a thread, f', which iscapable of formrotation being in, one or the other direction ac cording tothe direction of the Obliquity of the thread f. As often as the switch is shifted, the direction of the rotation ofthe wheel B is changed, the direction of the' rotation of the shaft A being the same. The switch is locked in either position partly by one of two buttons,v hfhlthat are attached firmly-to the'sarnre-pi-n', i,

running through the wheel D in a 4direction parallel with the shaft, and partly bya fixed stop, o, arranged within the wheelbehind or under the switch to limit thevmovement of the latter upon the pivot g. This stop o is only shown in dotted outline in Fig. 3 of the drawings; but the buttons are shown i'n Figs. 1, 3, and 4, Fig. 4 exhibiting them and their. connection pin i separate from the wheel. One button turns the switch in one direction and locks it in that direction, and the other turns and locks it in the other direction, the said buttons being arranged at right angles to each other, so that both are never in opera- `The buttons are made to shift the switch by the cam-like action of bevels 6 6,

provided on their inner sides, upon bevels-7 7, provided on opposite corners of one end of the switch, the turning o'f the buttons to produce their cam-like action being produced by their being brought by the revolution of the switchwheels into contact with one or other prong of a forked lever, E, which works, parallel with the rotation of the gear B,on a fulcruin-pin,

d, attaching it to the back of the box C. The space between the two prongs e e' of the fork of this lever is wide enough to admitthe thickness of the switch-wheel and one of the buttons h h', and the said lever is so arranged,v

that whichever button is in a position to lock the switch in the manner illustrated by h in Fig. 3 would clear its respective prong of the fork in the revolution of the wheel, but that suicient to allow either prong te come nearlyY into contact with the sid'eof the switch-wheel, and the'said lever is prevented from remaining in any position but at the extreme end of its movement by means of a spring, F, with a if-shaped tooth, j, at its end, secured tothe back of the box B, such tooth. engagingin one` or other of two V-shaped notches that are provided on either side of a V-shaped projection onthe back of the lever.v The spring-tooth,

` however, yields to anyconsiderable pressure on either side of the lever, and so permits it` to be nloved from one to the other position, as desired.- On moving the lever to either position the prong e or ewl1ich has arrivednear the wheel catchesits respective button as thel latter cornes round with the wheel, and by shifting the button causes the switch to be unlocked, shifted,and relocked, the unlocking ,being effected by the movement imparted'to the opposite button before the button which is immediately acted on by the lever comes. into contact with the switch'. l When the switch has been shifted, the buttons occupy such 'positions that they will revolve clear of the lever until the position of the lever is changed, andA 'hence the change in the direction .of the revo. lution ofthe gear B is effected by changingthe position ofthe lever E. A V y `Iwill now proceed to describe the automatic means of shil'tingthe lever E, which constitute the essential features of Amy invention.

G G are pins fitted to workthrough holes in the gear B parallel'with but at different distances from the axis thereof. These holes are deeply countersunk from the front side of the wheel :for the reception of spiral'spring's m, Fig. 3, which areeoiled round the' pins, and of collars n, provided upon the said pins for the springs to press against for the purpose of I drawing back the pinswithin theback of the gear B, and thereby preventing them from striking the projection Z on the back of the lever in their revolution -with the wheel. The

said ypins are secured inthe holes by a covering-plate, H, screwed to the face of the curved projection made on the front-of the wheel to `give 'it the thickness required Where the'pins G G pass throsughit. The springs m-m hold back the collars a of all the pins against the plate H, except when'one is' pushed back by means of oneof a seriesof wedge-like projections, s s, attached to the back of the toothed wheel I, which is fitted toturn freely on the. hub ofthe gear B, and thereby made to protrude through the back ofthe gear B far enough to strike the lever E in its revolution, and thereby effect the shifting of the switch and reversal of the gear B. This toothed wheel I has gearing with ita pinion, J, which is fitted to turn on a stud, p, that is fast in the gear B near the periphery thereof. This pinion has fastened to its back a square plate, g, so arranged that either of its sides will run in contact with a circular'way, r, provided in the interior of the box C, which is concentric with the gear B and wheel I, and so prevent the said' plate and the pinion from being turned on the stud at any point in the revolution of 'the gear B and wheel I, except at 1^ i", where lthere is an opening formed in the way lr for the plate to turn in, anda fixed tooth, t, arrangedjto catch between the teeth of the pinion for the-purpose of turning the latter a quarter of a-revolutionon the stud p, and so causing it to turn the wheel I a short distance relatively to the gear B, by which means the wedges s s are vfrom time to time, as may be desired, caused to act upon the pins G G, one

at a time, 'to make them protrude far enough through the back of the wheel to strike the projection Zot the lever E, and so canse the reversal of the switch and of the revolution of the gear B. -As soon 'as a wedge s passes a pin G on which it has acted, the gpin is withdrawnwithin the back of the gear by its springt.

The pins G G have 4been described to be at different distances from the axis of the gear B; and it is obvious that the wedges-s s must be arranged atdistances from the axis of I corresponding with the distances of the pins from the axis of B. One, two, or more wedges may beV arranged in the same circle, according to the `frequency with which the reversal is dei sired. Except at the time of passing the opening rr andtooth t, the gear B and wheel I are locked firmly together, and no change takes place inthe relation .between the pins G G and the wedges s s.-

In order that ,the toothl t 'niay only operate while the gear B and wheel I rotate in the direction of the arrow shown onBinFig. 1,-the said tooth is formed upon a' slide, K, that is fitted to slide inthe openingrr in a direction parallel with the axis of the gear B and wheel I.

.This slide has applied to it a spring, u, which tends tohold it back to the position shown in Fig. 3, in which it is in range of the pinion J; but there is attached to the front of the gear B, behind the pinion J, an oblique-faced cam, o, composed of a spring so constructed and applied that in turning in the opposite direction to that indicated by the arrow shown in Fig. lit will pass behind a projection, y, on the back part of the slide, and so be caused to force the said slide forward and. hold it there with the tooth t in front o'fand out of range with the pinion J. Then the gearB turns in the vdirection of the arrow, the cam z passes over the projection y, leaving the slide with the tooth t in range of the pinion.

The slide K is so constructed that when its tooth tis in advance of and out of range with the pinion .I a portion, -1-2, of the surfaceof the said slide-forms a continuation of the way r to prevent the plate q and the pinion from turning. While'no movement' of the Wheel I relatively to the gear B takes place the pins G remain xed, and if one is projecting through tien backand forth, the projecting pin caus. ing the switch to be shifted as it strikes first one 4and then'the 'other side of the lever E; or,

ifltwo the pins G G p'roj'ect, the. reversall ofthe' .switch and gear-,will take place at more fre- Aquent regular'intervals, according to the nurnf.

motion is transmitted frein the switch-Wheel Ato the niaehiiier'y'to be driven, or may-consti,"

tute simply a portionv of the mechanism for :convertingor reversingy the rotary motion of-A bhe'said machinery, aA separate :gear gearing with the switch-ivheel being in the latter case nsefiibr transmitting motion'to the machinery..

The invention is not limite in` its. applica@ tion 'to a sWitchwheel-,D,on the drivinglshafgf as, for instance",v the same efi'ectas is producedhyt'he 'svlfitchwheel-viz.,r the automatic. re'.

versal of the machinery to bedrivenfatsnch 1 intervalsas VVmay :he desiree without reversing the v driving-shaft may 'be effectedfbygmeansoi'twobevehgears facing eachother upon' l,the

.iriving shaft and turning .the1* e' vv.ith, and a v thi-rd -bevelfgearsoarranged upon-thc-Shaft .-to be driven and between the two-.first mena tioned thatjby shifting'them .uponthe driy'f .ing-shaftjon'e or .other may The 'brought into'- y.

vg-e'e'a'r.with'the 'gear on' the shaft to bejdri'vemfl. In this casethe leverEwouldr be applied to v' shift the two bevel-gears upon the-di'vingff vshaft to threw che or other of them'in gear;' V

and the third beveigear is va substitute for the,

`to.'andfradiating from the hub of the gear B, andthe Wedgesl may consist of beveled recesses in the-outer face. of' the lWheel I, and instead of theipinionl J there may be .substitutedfto l v operatebetween the gear B andwheel I a short berg of degrees cia circle at which the pinsare .parii`-v-iy 'n @hegea'r B may 'be 'thegear through which vided in the box Q ,"toprodueethesame e'ect.

as the. pinionJ produ-ees :in passing overthe tooth t,-' the' point ofthe said pawllleve'r acting ,on the 'teeth of thewheelI-in substantiallythe same'manner as `the teethv of .I act upon it. Y

What claim' as lny invention, and-,desire to secure by Letters Patent, 'is-r i y The, employment, inc'omhinationv withv aswitchfwheelor other equi-valent device. car' ried by *al drivingshaftfof a gear, B, and

-1t-ootl1o'3d-wheel` I, the said gear carrying p ifns. I

G G., controlled by s p'ringsgand'the saidtoothed wheelbeing yf nrni'sh'ed withwedges s fs, or otherinclined surfaces of similar 'chair'.azter,v

Y and the said gear and toothed wheel being con nect'edby a pinion', J, or its equivalent, actu'- atedby a {iX-ed tooth, t, the Whoie comb i ned andapplied Ito operate 'upon the reversi'ng-v llever or' other device for reversing-the mo; "tionnrstantialiy--asherein specified..

WML rr. MCNARY.'

Witnesses: v

'JAMES LAIRD, j EDWD.' HoDG'soN; 

